I know what THAT is!

Hug! Cold (Bottle)

My lil Bubbles just turned 14 months yesterday. We have been told that she's an early talker. I didn't quite know this for sure as she's the first baby of her generation on both sides of the family. I've only watched one other kid grow from birth and he is a boy who hit all his physical milestones way earlier than Bubbles and when he started speaking he said everything at once.

In this past 2 weeks however, I'm beginning to realise that we may really have a little wordsmith in the house. I tried to email my in-laws my regular update on Bubbles' development and found it quite difficult to include every single thing she now says. She's learning new words so fast and furiously by being game to repeat whatever we say, and having the ability to connect meanings to the words. I'm now in the process of writing down all that she now knows, just for memories' sake!

Friends have asked me what I have been doing to have enabled her to learn so many words so quickly. I think back and would say that besides regularly reading to her, I simply go about my day talking to her about what we are doing. It is mostly mundane things like "Mummy is putting on my shoes now" or "You're having brown rice with carrot and spinach and salmon" or "Uncle is sweeping the floor" or "Look, the bird is hopping!". I do make it a point to keep her involved by always speaking to her, describing everything around us and what we are doing.

There's a flipside to talking to her about everything I do though:

Last Saturday, we walked by a lingerie shop when my little girl stopped, pointed to a mannequin and shouted BRA!

hee, it's super fun (and funny) when they start talking. bubbles is a good talker! i do the same thing as you do too, (ie. the constant narration of everything) and now noey does it a lot himself. i think their willingness to repeat, which depends on child to child helps them pick up words more quickly.

cote-p:Now I am sure she is! Am enjoying the new communication level now :)

qoofamilyblog:It is really fun! You are really good to be able to do 2 languages. I try but fail miserably in Mandarin! Therefore she can't say a single word in Mandarin although she can follow some simple instructions when I give them. Clip - It is actually a hairband! And it is MINE. haha. But she doesn't mind wearing it so I let her :)

blendedbaby:Oh I think they all do that. Bubbles does learn and drop words too. Haha, the all big No. She says Neh or Nah!

tiffany:Haha! I didn't deliberately teach her. I suspect it is from breastfeeding days, and the occasions when I had to change when she is in the room.

jane:Oh yes, from what I see, boys seem to do the physical stuff first! She can say a lot of words now. I've counted 70 that she can fully understand and say on a daily basis. One of her favourites now is "Read!" "Read!" said as she thrusts books to us! haha

beanbean:Noey does the narration himself? That's way cute! I agree about the willingness to repeat part. She does it all the time right now - which makes me think that maybe I should really put in much more effort with the use of Mandarin when this window is still open!

Hi, came across your blog while browsing.. she does seem like she knows alot of words! You could cut little strips of paper, and write down each new word with the date, and keep them in a milk bottle for remembrance, its easier that way!

jus:Thanks for popping by!I really love your idea of putting the words in a milk bottle! However, a happy problem is that I am fast losing track of the number of words she can now say, so I don't think I'll do this. At my last tedious count - she can say about 80 words. But I suspect it is partly because we have not been putting much effort at all to speak other languages! =P

Hello, I'm Corsage. I am a woman, a wife and a mother (of two) living in Singapore. You can read more about me here. I enjoy interacting with readers and am glad that you came by. Welcome to this space!